Career-boosting showcase for Sarah Geronimo

Sarah Geronimo’s 12th studio album, “The Great Unknown,” has its share of inventively arranged but ultimately disposable tunes. For the most part, however, the 10-track collection is a career-boosting showcase for the Popstar Princess’ ever-expanding skills as a vocalist, as well as her continually evolving interpretive ability as a performer.

The 27-year-old singer-actress evinces growth and shines even when she isn’t compelled to show off those steely pipes with attention-seeking birit notes.

Sarah demonstrates this in Melvin Morallos’ “Unbroken,” which has the singer contentedly basking in the comfort of her loved one’s reassuring embrace.

The stirring, piano-driven single’s meditative allure is amplified by a lived-in soulfulness in the singer’s rendition that is devoid of excessive, fan-pandering schmaltz.

There’s more fun to be had in the finger-snapping groove of Geraldine Lim’s “Baby You’re the Reason.”

With Hale, Sarah performs Roll Martinez’s radio-ready “The Great Unknown”—about the discombobulating ambiguities of romance—with verve and show-stopping gusto.

SARAH’S latest album isn’t just about toe-tapping froth and fun-seeking melodic frills and thrills.-

The album isn’t just about toe-tapping froth and fun-seeking melodic frills and thrills, however: Totop Suzara’s “Ako’y Para Lamang sa ’Yo” finds Sarah wistfully pining for the man she thinks she shouldn’t have lost. Need we venture a guess whom she’s referring to?

She’s even more intimate in the uneven “Only for You,” where she stresses the importance of trust in a relationship.

If you’re partial to upbeat tunes, you’ll most likely enjoy the ’90s-rock embellishments in Mark Villar’s “Sabi Mo sa Akin” and the winsomely arranged “Tala,” a mid-tempo sizzler penned by Nica del Rosario and Emmanuel Sambayan that benefits from the inventive riffs of “beats-meister” Jumbo “Bojam” de Belen.

The album ends on a high with “Misteryo,” an irresistible cut from the prolific singing-and-songwriting tandem of Thyro Alfaro and Yumi Lacsamana that is as noteworthy for its pounding hooks as it is for Sarah’s range-scaling ability.

Another standout track is “Kaibigan Mo,” which is made more fascinating by Yeng Constantino’s lush and luscious counterpointing and a “relatable” theme that pays tribute to friendship—and the people who make the challenges in our complex and world-weary lives easier to bear!